A Wales Air Ambulance flying doctor has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours for her services to military and civilian critical care.

Dr Ami Jones, the interim National Director of Wales’ flying medics service on board Wales Air Ambulance, flies on the charity’s helicopter as well as working as a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

As well as her roles working in emergency medicine and flying the A&E department to the people of Wales, Dr Ami Jones is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps, undertaking two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

In May Ami took on the role of interim National Director of the Welsh Flying Medics, otherwise known as EMRTS, a unique partnership between Wales Air Ambulance and NHS Wales, which enables NHS doctors and practitioners to fly on board its aircraft. This means patients can receive advanced treatments and care before reaching hospital.

Dr Jones said: “After college, I did five years at medical school and then another ten years of working in hospitals and completing specialist exams and training to become a consultant.

“While doing my specialist training in anaesthetics and intensive care, I deployed with the army to Afghanistan on the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), which was the helicopter service that flew to the front line to treat our severely injured soldiers, often in very austere conditions.

“This gave me a huge amount of training and experience in treating very injured casualties outside of a hospital environment, where conditions can be incredibly challenging. I then used this expertise to gain civilian experience and qualifications to help the people of Wales as a doctor on the Wales Air Ambulance.

 “I am humbled to have received this honour. My work with the military and the Wales Air Ambulance would not have been possible without the support of my family and my colleagues in Aneurin Bevan Health Board, 203 Welsh Field Hospital, EMRTS Cymru and the WAA Charity."